Sunlight on the Shadows
by AcidSerra
Summary: When the light is brightest it leaves the darkest shadows. 12 years ago the nine-tailed fox attacked Konoha and was eventually defeated by the Yondaime Hokage. When the dust had cleared a pair of infants were found in the wake of the battle. Now, they've both begun their life as ninja. - Naruto and Kyuubi as Naruko - No Pairings Yet
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any rights to it. I just like to write in Kishimoto's sandbox.

* * *

She watched the rest of her class as they ran to their parents to report their graduation. Out of the entire class only her forehead lacked the band and metal plate that marked one as a Konoha-nin. Sure, tomorrow half of them would find new ways to wear it, some on their arms, some around their waists, but today they were all done in the traditional style. Except hers since it was nonexistent.

Her long red hair created the perfect curtain to hide her shame filled expression behind. It didn't save her from their stares though. The children didn't have any true hatred of her, but the gazes of the parents were glacial. Had it not been an everyday occurrence she would have worried that she'd disappointed them somehow. As it was though, she could see well enough to pick out the looks of relief that were shot her way as well. They had wanted her to fail, and in failing she had granted their wish.

There was a brief comment carried on the wind about someone being put out by her golden eyes. Her face tilted lower in an unconscious gesture. Without any guidance her eyes slid to Iruka-sensei's feet. She could read a whole situation just by watching how he stood and shifted his weight. He didn't like the person he was talking to and they didn't want him to end the discussion. There was a pronounced lean in her direction that gave her the brief hope he was going to come over and talk to her next, but she quashed it before she could be disappointed.

"Naruko-chan…" Mizuki-sensei appeared next to her. She briefly turned in his direction, signaling him to continue. "I know it's hard to see but Iruka-sensei just wants the best for you. He honestly wants you to have everything mastered before you actually wind up out in the field."

She's touched actually. Iruka-sensei is the only person to ever hold her back because he cares too much. Still he's treating her differently than the other students. That just doesn't sit well with her.

Mizuki-sensei fidgets slightly at her silent response. Unlike Iruka-sensei he still isn't used to her silence. "You know… it hasn't happened in a long time but there is a back-up exam. Something of a practical skills test if you will. Would you be interested in hearing about it?"

He's lying. It's not that hard to figure out. His feet gave away the first half of the lie, his tone the other. The underlying lie is that he cares. Past experience provides the information that he doesn't. He's just as cold as the rest of them, sometimes more. He's just able to smile at the same time… it's a shinobi thing she thinks. Nonetheless she can't afford the off chance that he's only lying about the details. If there really is a test, even if that test is far more dangerous than he'll let on, she still has to take it. So she nods.

He relaxes slightly, "well we can't talk about it here. Meet me…" He gives her a time in the near future at a place not too far away. She memorizes and nods again. He leaves. Her footsteps are soft as she walks out of the academy yard. Out of the corner of her eye she can see the dejected set in Iruka-sensei's stance and the slight turn to follow her out. It feels like she did something wrong, now that she knows he really was going to speak to her.

Oh well, time to find out what this test is all about.

* * *

She wiped the mud off the seat of her yellow training dress and tried again. She was tired and aching. Her muscles burned from exertion. A terrible migraine was exploding behind her eyes. Nonetheless she pressed on. Forming the hand seal she tried one more time at the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. This time there was some sort of internal snap and with a horrible anticlimax a semi-perfect copy of her appeared.

It looked exactly like her in most ways except for its extremely feral features. The canine teeth were a little too long, the fingernails too sharp and the eyes had tall narrow slits for pupils. With a sigh she released the technique.

"Naruko!" Iruka-sensei cried out from the trees behind her. Startled she turned around and looked at him with wide eyes. "What are you doing? Why did you steal the scroll!"

Silently she formed the hand sign again. Once again the semi-identical clone popped into life. She and the clone each cocked their head to the side slightly.

"What do you mean did you pass? Pass what? This isn't a test Naruko!" Iruka cried out in frustration. He was the only one who knew her well enough to read her gestures. Her vision swam as her eyes filled with tears. It wasn't the most bitter loss in her life. She'd overheard him tell the hokage that he was going to adopt her if she failed this year's exam, so even losing was something of a win. In truth she really did want to be his daughter… but she wanted to be a shinobi more.

The tension left his shoulders and his gaze softened. "What are you crying for? I swear whenever I figure out who put you up to this…"

"Well you aren't going to have to search long, Iruka-_sensei_!" Mizuki spat out as he dropped into the clearing throwing a brace of kunai at Iruka. Her would be father was too surprised by the man's sudden arrival to properly dodge. Several the kunai caught his clothes and trapped him against the tree he was standing on.

"Now Naruko, just hand me the scroll and you can become a full-fledged kunoichi. Just like you always wanted, ne." Mizuki held a hand out towards her.

A dull stare of disappointment was her only response. She was mute and desperate not stupid. Instead she quickly wrapped the scroll up and took a defensive posture. The clone beside her disappeared, but she didn't bother replacing it.

"Naruko run, don't let him get the scroll!" Iruka cried out to her.

"Don't listen to him. He's trying to confuse you. It's the final part of the test. If you don't give me the scroll now you'll never be a kunoichi!" Mizuki shouted at her.

For her part her eyes caught Iruka-sensei's and conveyed the message she knew he'd understand. He obviously didn't like it judging by his grimace. It was a simple message really, _what about you?_

"Don't worry about me, just run!" Iruka shouted.

She got a few steps away before Mizuki trapped her with the ultimate snare, "_Naruko-chan_… Don't you want to know why all the villagers hate you so much?" His words were sickeningly over sweet but they trapped her as surely as any ninja's wire ever could. Slowly she turned her head to look at him.

"You can't tell her Mizuki! The Hokage has forbidden it!" Iruka shouted.

Mizuki laughed, "you think I care about that old man when I'm about to get a scroll like that." The words sent shivers up her spine. Her feet refused to move though even as her brain screamed at her to run away. "Let me spell it out for you _Naruko-chan_. Nobody can actually kill the nine-tailed fox so they had to seal it away. Twelve years ago, when the demon fox attacked, that was you! You can't remember it but it was really you that killed all those people! Even Iruka's parents were killed that day. I bet he hates you more than anything in the world. He's just playing daddy to get you close so he can do some real damage!"

"Shut up, Mizuki! You don't know what you're talking about!" Iruka cried out in frustration. He finally broke free of the kunai and started towards Mizuki.

"Bah, I'll just kill the runt first then take you out." Mizuki pulled out a massive fuma-shuriken and launched it towards Naruko. She knew that she needed to move to survive but the shock of the reveal was just too much. Her mind was too busy making sense of the words Mizuki had said and their meanings. Her eyes widened as they caught every moment of Iruka's shunshin into the path of the shuriken.

A warm liquid splattered across her cheek waking her from her reverie. For a brief second she looked up into his eyes, seeing the apology there that needed no words. He was sorry for not telling her, not being there, but mostly he was just sorry. She wanted to tell him it was okay. There was even a tickle in her throat like she might make a sound.

Then her attention dropped to the wound and her eyes narrowed dangerously. Mizuki had hurt Iruka-sensei. He'd tried to kill the closest thing she'd ever had to a father. She snaked out from under Iruka's arms and stood facing Mizuki. A second fuma-shuriken was already in the air sailing towards her. But it was too late for him; she felt the need to scream.

"Naruko!" Iruka called one last time before the cry erupted from her throat.

A torrential outpouring of pure chakra washed through the clearing like an ocean wave over a ship's deck. The shuriken was slammed back slicing through entire trees with its new found momentum. Trees were uprooted and thrown away from her. Mizuki himself was simply too weak and fleshy to maintain any sort of form in the maelstrom. He was dead before he even had a chance to fear for his life.

Quietly she lay the scroll down and knelt down by her sensei. He was staring at her in a mixture of awe, respect, and disbelief. Her body language spoke for her, 'are you okay?'

He reached around and pulled the massive shuriken out of his own back and tossed it aside. It probably wasn't the smart move, but she trusted him to not done it if the result would be fatal. With her help he was able to sit against a tree-trunk. "So… does that always happen when you try to talk?" Iruka asked.

She blushed and nodded, looking down in shame. A calloused hand cupped her cheek and lifted her face. "I think it's very noble of you to decide on your own not to talk, then." He pondered for a minute then gave her a genuine smile. "Close your eyes."

Curious she did as she was told. It was strange hearing him move around in her suddenly dark world. Cloth scraped against cloth, sliding against itself as something was untied. Suddenly something heavy was placed against her forehead and tied on behind her crimson hair. Tears were already welling up in her eyes before she even opened them. She raised a single hand to brush against the cool metal and trace the symbol there. It was a forehead protector of her very own.

"Congratulations, Naruko. You've graduated to being a ninja. I'm proud of you." Iruka grinned at her. They had a few minutes to bask in this wonderful moment before the Anbu arrived.

* * *

Naruto Hatake sat nervously on the floor of their small apartment. His adoptive father Kakashi was running late now by nearly an hour and a half. Needing some outlet for his nervous energy he toyed around with the forehead protector he had set in his lap. It was brand new and a sign of a bright future… maybe. Today, though, it was the key to his past. Or at least it would be if tou-san ever actually came home.

Kakashi suddenly materialized in front of him in a puff of smoke. His one visible eye curved in a slight smile. "Gomen, gomen. I got held up by a dozen black cats-" the silver haired man decided to cut his losses when he saw the look in the boy's eyes. With an audible sigh he sat down on the floor across the coffee table from his son. "Well how about we just get down to business then."

The boy looked at him with apprehension. Usually he was barely able to contain his natural energy, but for this he could do it. Naruto realized his throat had gone dry and he was no longer sure what exactly he was supposed to be doing with his hands. He didn't say anything though, waiting for the man across from him to say his piece.

"Now that you're officially a ninja of this village you'll be expected to carry important secrets with you from time to time. In this case, since it directly affects you, you're being allowed to know one of this village's S-class secrets. An S-class secret cannot be shared except by Hokage-sama's direct order and carries very harsh penalties, including execution, for anyone who breaks their word and shares it. Are you ready to carry an S-class secret, Naruto?" Kakashi spoke firmly, but kindly.

Naruto took a deep breath and nodded.

Kakashi's eye curved up in another smile, "Good!" He reached into his weapons pouch and pulled out a picture which he then slid across the table. The picture had a blond man that Naruto instantly recognized as the fourth Hokage hugging a woman with long red hair. "These are your birth parents."

Naruto stared up at him dumbfounded for a moment before finally letting it out, "WHAT!" The walls vibrated a little at the cry and Kakashi had to flinch away at the height of the shout. "But that would mean that… he's… how can this…" Naruto wasn't sure how to even finish a sentence, he was so overwhelmed with excitement. Finally though one slid to the surface and he couldn't push away or lose in the din of thoughts. "Why is it such a big secret?"

Kakashi gave him a measured look then spoke, "Your father was one of the most deadly participants in the last great shinobi war, by far. Iwa and Kumo still have enormous bounties on him just in case. If it got out that you were his son… There would be no end to assassins coming for your life."

They both sat in silence for a long moment before Naruto finally spoke again, "what about my mother? What was she like?"

Kakashi smiled, then began to relate as much as he could remember of Kushina Uzumaki.

* * *

Naruko shuffled into the classroom and looked around for a seat. Since she was early most of the seats were open. She sat down next to Shino and gave him a warm smile which he acknowledged with a slight nod. Shino could talk, unlike her, but he usually didn't. As such he was never uncomfortable from her silence, and she didn't feel like she was being left out. It wasn't quite friendship, but it was a very comfortable arrangement.

Shikamaru arrived soon after and sat on her other side. He enjoyed his peace and quiet. That made it the obvious choice to sit next to the two quietest people in the entire class. Chouji of course sat down next to him, happy to eat his snack and watch the rest of them. It was a familiar formation for the four of them by this point. Naruko wished she would wind up on a team with Shino and Shikamaru, it would be so much more comfortable that way.

"Eh, what's so great about teme anyway!" Naruto asked loudly. The room had steadily been filling up, and the blond haired boy had the misfortune of sitting next to Sasuke when his fan-club arrived. Now he was on the desk in front of him, glaring at the dark haired boy in challenge. Naruko's attention shifted to the noise just in time to see something thoroughly entertaining. The boy behind Naruto had bumped him and for just a second the two boys' lips had met.

Her mind immediately spiraled into a series of boys-love scenarios inspired by the scene. Her face then flushed to the same shade as her hair with embarrassment and shame. It's not like she was a pervert… After all it wasn't her fault that the only book store that would sell to her happened to have an especially large segment devoted to boys-love stories.

"BE QUIET AND SIT DOWN!" Iruka cried out, momentarily filling the room with his presence. She hadn't even noticed him shunshin in with all the confusion. Once everyone was silent and seated he began talking.

"Today you're all moving on. Thanks to your time at this academy and your own personal determination you've managed to become full-fledged ninjas!" Iruka said. "But… You are all still genin, the hard part has only just begun. From here you're going to be on three-man squads, training under your jounin-sensei."

Across the room Sasuke gave his signature "tch". It was hard to determine if that meant he was unhappy, ecstatic, exasperated, haughty, or amused. Perhaps his inability to display an emotional range set him further on the path of the shinobi than the rest of them. Whatever the case, it didn't change the fact that she hated people she couldn't read. It made communication even harder than usual.

"Now pay attention and I'll read out the team assignments." Iruka started down the list, but most of the names didn't really catch her attention. Finally at team six that began to change.

"Team Six: Sasuke Uchiha, Sai," Iruka frowned here and she did as well, she didn't know of anyone named Sai in their class, "and Ryuuga Tanihana." The boy who sat directly in front of her groaned. She felt a small measure of sympathy. He was a kind person at heart and definitely didn't deserve the death-glares that the kunoichi around him were shooting in his direction. "Your Jounin-sensei is Kakashi Hatake." Naruto looked somewhat crestfallen that his father wouldn't be his sensei, but he seemed to get over it well enough.

"Team Seven: Naruto Hatake, Sakura Haruno," a small cheer from Naruto was met by a groan of disgust from Sakura, "and Kiba Inuzuka. Your Jounin-sensei is Hayate Gekkou." It seemed like a good team to her. Naruto and Kiba were front line attackers, Sakura had the book-smarts to act as strategist, and Kiba would also be able to track. So long as they worked as a unit they would bring significant battle strength to bear on the right place at the right time in any given situation.

"Team Eight: Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuuga, and Naruko." She smiled to Shino, glad to be on his team. He gave her a nod that she took as encouragement. "Your Jounin-sensei is Kurenai Yuhi."

"Team Ten: Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Chouji Akimichi." Ino let out a cry of disgust but Shika and Chouji just looked at each other before simultaneously rolling their eyes. "Your Jounin-sensei is Asuma Sarutobi."

"That covers all of the teams," Iruka said before looking up at his students. "You'll have some free time to get lunch before you meet your sensei. Meet back in this room at the end of two hours. Dismissed."

* * *

Kurenai knelt down in the large office, "you wished to see me, Hokage-sama?"

The old man before her nodded, the white brim of his hat dipping down to cover his face during the motion. "Please, one moment." He made a few hand-seals and a swirling vortex of kanji dispersed around the room sealing them within a barrier of text. "There, now we won't be overheard."

"May I ask what this is about, Hokage-sama?" She said. Her voice barely managed to stay even.

"I am assigning you a long-term S-rank mission," he said.

"Hokage-sama, I thought I was starting my job as a Jounin-sensei today?" She asked, clearly confused.

He put his hand up to reassure her, "and you will. This mission is an extension of your duties as a Jounin-sensei. Tell me, Kurenai, what do you know of sealing containers?"

She searched her mind for a moment before answering, "well inanimate objects can be sealed fairly easily in just about anything. Storage scrolls are a good example, since they can contain many objects and even fairly large objects. You would need a specially designed seal to store something that's already storing something and it would have to be developed on the fly. Once you get to things with chakra it becomes much harder. The more chakra it has the more chakra it takes to bind an object, and exponentially more so if sealing into an object without its own chakra. On top of that, a failure to bind something with chakra inside an animal or person has a chance of killing target of the bind."

Sarutobi waited for a moment to make sure she had finished speaking. "I see, that is a rather informed but concise way of putting it. However, there is a very rare third form of seal."

Kurenai felt like banging her head against a wall. "Of course, it's the form you just used to soundproof the room, Hokage-sama," she said. "A seal may be bound to the boundaries of a barrier and in some cases become self-perpetuating so long as there is enough chakra within the barrier's field."

The old man leaned back with an approving smile, "well since that is understood it should make what I am about to say next easier to understand. Naruko is not actually a Jinchuriki."

Kurenai looked at him in shock, "you can't mean that in all this time, after the way she's been treated-"

"Naruko is the Kyuubi itself in sealed form." He let the words fall like a hammer. This time she only stared at him in stunned silence. "Kushina took it upon herself to find a way of sealing the demon fox that would not require a jinchuriki after her own… experiences. She had succeeded while pregnant with Naruto but had decided to wait until after the birth to perform the new sealing ritual. Kyuubi's attack on the village forced their hands though."

"Wait, if Kushina-sensei was the previous container… then how did the Kyuubi get free to attack the village in the first place?" Kurenai asked.

The hokage stared out a nearby window for a long moment. His expression was drawn and grim, "somebody attacked Kushina and forced the Kyuubi out of her body. That is all Minato had the chance to tell me before leaving to battle this mysterious attacker. I believe that the Kyuubi was being controlled when it attacked us, but one can never be certain with beings so old and powerful."

"In any case," he continued a sad look on his face, "I should get down to the details of this mission. Your mission is threefold. First, I would like you to become a friend and confidant to Naruko. She has never had a mother figure in her life. However, this mission will most likely take an unpleasant turn so keep that in mind. Second, you are to use your genjutsu to calm, confuse or contain her at the first sign that she is weakening in her capacity as a seal. Third, if you determine there is no hope of further containment of the fox-demon…"

He lifted a sword from his desk and held it out to her, "this is a special sword Kushina had prepared before fully completing her research. Its original purpose was to sever portions of the demon's youki into more manageable segments without causing undue pain to the demon itself. If the sword is thrust through her stomach it will temporarily reinforce the seal while consuming her life force. We estimate that as old as she is, it will give us roughly two weeks to seal the demon inside another container."

Kurenai returned his sad look. She understood her duty all too well, but she wasn't certain how she felt about the first order. On the one hand, it was good that they were trying friendship and attempting to give the girl, or whatever she was, a real connection. On the other it would only mean even more heartbreak when they inevitably had to put her down.

"I… understand, Hokage-sama. Is there anything else?" She took the sword, still fully sheathed, from his hands and slung it across her back.

"No, that will be all." With a final hand-sign the kanji filling the air around them dissipated. In the next moment Kurenai was gone.

* * *

Hayate Gekkou looked at the three genin in front of him, his natural kindness overflowing in his gaze. "I'm," he coughed for a moment, "Hayate Gekkou and I'll be your instructor from here out. Let's get some introductions out of the way." He coughed again. "I'll go first. I already told you my name. For things I like… there's my girlfriend, and my best friend, Genma. Things I… dislike are anyone who threatens my village and the cold at dawn just before the sun comes up after a storm. My dream is… to see my family sword style find a successor. Now, uhh… Hatake san?"

Naruto shot up with a bright grin. He was wearing a dark grey jacket over a light grey shirt and black pants. "My name is Naruto Hatake. Things I like are ramen, training with my dad and the Yondaime Hokage. Things I dislike are people who complain a lot or think they're better than everyone without earning their way. My dream is to become the next Hokage and take the hat right off ojiji's head!"

Once Naruto was seated again Hayate nodded to Sakura. The rosette who was wearing a red dress and black training pants stood up. "I'm Sakura Haruno. I really like reading and Sasuke-kun. As far as dislikes, I don't like loud mouths who are always going on about how great they are!" With this, rather loud, proclamation she shot a glare in Naruto's direction. "My dream is…" With this she went silent as though uncertain what exactly to say.

"It's fine if you don't have one yet. We'll just have to work on getting you one, then." Hayate said. He coughed again then looked at Kiba. The boy's heavy grey hooded coat and dark grey pants were a compliment of his male teammate's.

"My name is Kiba Inuzuka! I like it when I can really give it my all in a fight with a strong opponent. I don't like people who smell like crap or weak men who run away just because they have a scary wife! My dream is to become hokage and prove to everyone that Inuzuka are not only the strongest, but have the best nindo of all!" He shouted.

At this point it crystalized in Hayate's mind that he had managed to get the single loudest team in the group.

* * *

Kurenai wasn't sure if the dead silence her team walked in was comforting or abjectly terrifying. The Aburame heir seemed to feel no need to speak as they walked to their meeting point. And she already knew the Kyuubi's container was mute. That only left Hinata-chan to actually speak up. Once or twice the young Hyuuga would open her mouth, but then close it again before actually saying anything. It disappointed her a bit to know that her former student still hadn't gotten over her shyness.

After they all came to a stop she gave them a warm smile and started to speak, "My name is Kurenai Yuhi and I'll be your Jounin-sensei from here on out. You can just call me Kurenai-sensei, alright?" All three of them nodded as one. Taking a brief chance to look them over she noticed that Shino seemed to be especially interested in her sword while Naruko's eyes always seemed to drift past it without taking it in. "We'll be starting with introductions, Shino why don't you go first?"

Shino nodded, his sunglasses bobbing with his head. It was impossible to see much of him under his oversized, hooded and high collared sea foam green jacket and maroon pants. "My name is Shino Aburame. I like kikaichu and other insects. I dislike people who dislike insects. My dream is to become a greater shinobi than my father." With that he sat back down.

Kurenai turned her attention to Hinata. The young Hyuuga wore a heavy tan coat and baggy blue pants that stopped around her calves. Her blue hair was naturally flat and fell to just above her ears except for a pair of long bangs that framed her face. She blushed slightly realizing it was her turn.

"I'm… H-hinata Hyuuga. My l-likes… a-are p-people who d-don't give up. D-dislikes… I c-can't really say. Umm… m-my d-dream is… umm… to b-be a bit s-stronger about… t-things." She looked away not willing to meet anyone else's eyes.

Kurenai sighed before looking away. She pulled out a scroll wrapped around a fountain pen and handed it to her final student. Naruko looked up at her, surprise evident in her golden eyes. With a moment's hesitation she took the scroll and turned out just enough of it to write down her own introduction. She finally turned it around so the others could see what she had written in beautiful calligraphy.

Name: Naruko

Likes: People who are nice to me.

Dislikes: Rainy days.

Dream: To be someone people want to rely on… just a little. Maybe.

Kurenai smiled at her, containing the sadness she felt before it could make it to her eyes. "Well, we're going to head over to training ground eleven and get your final test out of the way."

"Test?" Shino asked. He didn't let his voice betray anything except curiosity.

"Yes we have one final challenge for you before we can let you truly start at Genin. Though let me warn you failing this test will mean that you have to go back to the academy for another year." She replied. Without further explanation they all set off for the training ground together. It was a fairly long trip, but nobody seemed to mind. Each of the three were mulling over the revelation of a test in their own minds, trying to work out what it might be.

When they had finally arrived Kurenai turned to them, "now I'll give you a full explanation of the test. Somewhere in the forest behind me are two sacred statues. If you can bring a statue back here before sundown, you'll have passed the test."

"O-only t-two!" Hinata squeaked.

"Yes. Only two, the one who doesn't get a statue can't become a genin," she replied.

All three looked quite nervous at the revalation and looked at each other curiously. "Go!" Her shout pushed them all into action as they spread out into the forest looking for the statues. None of the three felt especially good about the rules of the test, but they were too high on adrenaline to question it at the moment.

Hinata was the first to find one of the statues thanks to her Byakugan. She landed in the low branches of a tree staring out at the clearing it was in. Careful to look for traps she gently lowered herself to the ground. A few steps out into the clearing though it went wrong. Kurenai placed a hand on her shoulder and Hinata looked up into her eyes in fear. A tree suddenly sprung to life between them and grew long tendrils which wrapped around her, holding her in place. The blue haired girl continued to struggle and even let loose a few loud, for her, shouts but it didn't make much difference.

Naruko stumbled upon the next one, but couldn't help being extremely wary of its positioning. It sat on a flat stone in the middle of a lake. It was simply too obvious of a trap to move in on. Crossing her fingers in front of her she cast the kage bunshin no jutsu and called forth a dozen clones. Not a single one was lacking the feral features her previous clones had. She sighed in defeat then silently motioned them forwards.

Three passed around the lake, looking for traps along the edges. Four dived into the lake hoping to obscure their later actions. The other five jumped from various parts of the bank straight for the stone with her prize. All five were hit by kunai from seemingly random angles. The three on the bank each took a senbon to the leg which was enough to dispel them. Three of the remaining four jumped fully out of the water pouncing on their inanimate prey. They too were demolished with well-placed kunai, leaving a cloud of smoke in their wake.

Once the smoke cleared though it was obvious the statue was gone. Four more shadow clones sprang out of the water, one carrying the prize and the other three forming a defensive formation around it. They ran as one towards the tree-line though only the carrier actually made it. She saw a shadow separate from the forest and chase after the clone.

Thinking it safe she inched to the edge of the clearing and waited for a long moment. Finally the clone threw the statue out to land a few inches in front of her. It made a small wave as it dispelled itself. Knowing her time would be short she slipped the rest of the way into the clearing and grabbed the statue only to be distracted by a red feather falling past her head. She looked up and one landed directly on her nose. In the next instant she was unconscious.

It was almost an hour later before Shino had brought them somewhere safe and released them both from their genjutsu. There was a short rapid fire discussion as Hinata and Shino threw out ideas and Naruko either gave her okay or her veto. Finally they settled on a plan they could all agree on. Shino spoke to some bugs to get the latest intel and then they moved out.

Both statues were now in the same clearing, slightly further in than either of the earlier traps. Shino and Hinata burst forth into the clearing making straight for the prizes. Kurenai appeared ahead of them and flew through the motions for a genjutsu. Rather than stopping, they each exploded in puffs of smoke. Kurenai smiled at the ploy and began looking around for the originals. Suddenly another troupe of clones burst into the clearing. There were nine in all and they took up a three lines of three formation confusing her for a moment.

As the front rank came into range she threw a full brace of kunai. Rather than block, the first two immediately performed kawarimi no jutsu. The kunai bounced off the hard stone of the statues that they'd changed places with. Realizing their plan she threw more kunai at the rest of the clones, but they worked through the kawarimi chain too fast. Finally the statues were at the edge of the clearing and the real Shino and Hinata each grabbed one and made a break for it.

Kurenai immediately leapt to chase after them but the original Naruko, eyes firmly closed, flew out of the trees to match kunai with her. They stopped in mid-air, trapped in a battle of strength before gravity could reassert its power. To her surprise Kurenai was actually being pushed back. True she was holding back to what she might consider Chunin level but that did little to diminish the accomplishment.

"So you've chosen to give up your chance to be a ninja for them?" She looked into the girl's eyes as she asked, trying to see an answer. Sacrificing a teammate was actually a poor solution in her opinion, but it would at least get them a passing grade. The girl just smiled. An invisible force suddenly pulled her back into the forest. Kurenai chased her all the way back to the original clearing. Shino and Hinata stood near the entrance each standing near a statue as they heaved on the ninja wire they were using to propel their teammate. Something seemed vaguely off about the scene though. She just couldn't quite put her finger on it.

She a took a moment to look at the team, then sighed, "so that's your answer?"

"No!" A voice behind her shouted. She jumped back in surprise as the Naruko in front of her dissolved into a pile of bugs and the other team members and statues all disappeared in puffs of white smoke. She spun around and saw her entire team, each one touching both of the statues in some way. "O-our answer…" Hinata began, and then looked at the ground for a moment. There was a long silence before she looked up again and this time stared straight into her sensei's eyes. "Our answer i-is to s-stick together! No m-matter w-what!"

Kurenai couldn't help but chuckle as the shadow clone she'd left watching the clearing dispelled revealing their actual plan. They'd used their entire sneak attack as a ruse to distract her from their real attempt on the statues. With a broad smile she spoke, "That is an answer you can be proud of! Congratulations, you all pass! Welcome to team 8."

* * *

She stood outside the simple white building, studying its features for some hint as to what actually happened within. None were forthcoming. The chunin assigned to the lower ranked duties were very good at their jobs. Even if it seemed like mere chores, maintaining the blank façade of the building was actually one of the village's more important duties. After all it was better for everyone in the fire nation if few ever knew what it was.

Finally deciding she'd enjoyed the view long enough she slid into the main reception area and walked up to the woman at the desk. As she approached she caught the woman's attention. That was one thing she liked about the place, while few smiled nobody ever looked at her with anything less than professionalism.

"Ah, Naruko-san. Dinner is still being served in the cafeteria. Feel free to get something to eat before you turn in for the night." She said then turned back to her work.

Naruko nodded to herself then proceeded down the hall. A pair of chunin and a medic-nin slid out of a room in front of her. She stepped to the side respectfully waiting for them to pass; they gave short nods of acknowledgement. It wasn't far after that to the cafeteria and everything was self-serve so there was no need to interrupt anybody to get a plate. Soon she was sitting in a private corner of the room watching as the chunin and jounin around her ate.

A few were sharing bouts of dark humor, but for the most part the people eating here were grim faced. It wasn't really a pleasant job, working T&I. Often times it was more emotionally damaging than killing on missions could ever be. Here you didn't just kill your enemy; you cajoled, tricked them, befriended them, betrayed them, broke them, put them back together and then started the cycle all over again in the hopes of getting just one more secret. Even more they were rarely in a position to fight back. Not that there wasn't danger, but rather it made the illusion of nobility difficult to hang on to.

To her, these were real ninja. Then again for the first six years of her life they were the only ninja she'd ever known. It had been a genuine surprise attending the academy and seeing ninja-instructors and ninja hopefuls that regularly gave honest smiles. Now she was somewhat used to both and couldn't really decide which she favored. A familiar chunin named Tonbo sat down across from her.

"So did you meet your Jounin-sensei today?" He asked.

She nodded. He leaned back and gave a slight smile. She wasn't sure how he even knew what she'd done since the entire top portion of his head, including his eyes, was wrapped in bandages. Briefly, she wondered if that would ever as much as slow the man down.

"How did it go?" He pressed on.

She smiled at him and gave a generous thumbs up.

"That good, huh. Well keep it up and maybe someday you'll graduate from mascot into a real live shinobi," he said. A slight chuckle crossed his lips. She gave a playfully hurt expression then let out a guttural chuckle of her own. It was as close as she could come to laughter with destroying half the building so it would have to do.

After dinner she wandered back to her "room". They had several cells that were intended for more… pleasant stays. They were virtually indistinguishable from a hotel room really except for the lack of windows. They'd given her one for her fifth birthday, finally moving her out of the massive barren cell she'd lived in before that. It probably wasn't much by the standards of those around her, but it was home.

The walls of the room were painted in soothing lavender. A table in the center held a couple pictures, one of her and the guys from T&I out for dinner after a tough case she'd helped with. The other was of her and Iruka-sensei taken shortly after she had been put in his class. She'd have to get a picture with her new teammates to go with it soon.

The bed was set against the far wall with a large cleared out area around it. Several years ago she'd had a terrible nightmare. When she'd awoken she found an area roughly that size visibly burned by chakra fire. The only thing she could remember of the nightmare anymore was an orange swirl mask. The phenomenon hadn't repeated, but what little she had was far too precious to her to risk.

There wasn't any great risk to the outside world. Unlike a normal dwelling, the walls of the cell were made of chakra absorbing materials. A normal shinobi would find it debilitating, for her it just meant she'd be a little off her game in the mornings.

Mostly the single greatest difference between this room and the other cells on the block, the thing that made it home, was that there was also a locking seal on the inside. It could still be overridden by the likes of Ibiki or the Hokage, of course. It just added that extra layer of psychological security. A guarantee, however flimsy, that they wouldn't be waking her up in the middle of the night and dragging her out for a round of questioning.

She collapsed onto the sunflower yellow sheets and let her mind wander. It wasn't long before the familiar drain of the stones around her drew her into sleep.

* * *

Tobi leaned against a tree, far from the prying eyes of any other Akatsuki members. His expression was somber as he took in the valley below. He didn't like being outplayed, and if his most recent information was correct then he'd been outplayed far more thoroughly than he'd initially thought. Not for the first, nor last, time he found himself cursing the Yondaime Hokage.

"I guess I'll just have to send in Itachi to clean up this mess…"

* * *

**A/N:**

I really enjoyed writing this, so hopefully I'll get more chapters out soon.

Before anyone makes a big deal out of it, I'm not putting Sasuke on a separate team because I don't like him. I tend to dislike his core concept, but Kishimoto did a good job on the execution of the character. My reason for separating him from the story is that he simply is not as important to my story. Without Naruto's outcast status there isn't as great a dichotomy between them in terms of skill, and they aren't fellow outsiders. He'll still have his moments of course. Orochimaru is still after him, after all.

I've noticed a lot of fanfics spend a lot of time beating up one character or another for their perceived failures, especially towards Naruto. I don't really agree with all that and it's certainly not going to be my intent. My hope is to show everyone in a better light, but with hard choices and smart enemies. I want their failures to reflect well on the strengths of their enemies, rather than be a reflection of the character being ineffectual.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto, I just like playing in Kishimoto's sandbox.

* * *

Hayate watched his new team gather. He hadn't travelled in the same circles as the Hatakes, but he'd seen Kakashi and Naruto around often enough. It was actually kind of strange thinking of the little chibi that Kakashi had carried around on his shoulders as an actual ninja. There was the feeling that at any moment the silver haired Anbu captain would show up behind him and lazily mention his son stole his forehead protector again and he was here to take him home.

Of course he'd also been aware of the Inuzuka's formative years. Though in his case even more distantly than Naruto's. Mostly he remembered having Tsume Inuzuka as a team captain on the same week that the boy's father had left her. Well, that is to say he would remember it if he hadn't blocked out the entire week in an attempt to preserve his sanity.

Finally there was Sakura… Well she was new to him and so far he wasn't impressed. Not to be unkind about it, but the girl seemed thin and more importantly thinly muscled even for a kunoichi. She also lacked the focus of her teammates. It didn't make her a bad ninja, for a fresh academy recruit she was fine. The problem was she had been matched up with two of the most talented close in fighters in the graduating class. If she couldn't keep up the squad as a whole would suffer.

"So, are we going to be learning a lot of new jutsu? Ne, Hayate-sensei?" Naruto asked.

The sickly man looked at the three around him and thought for a moment before deadpanning, "nope."

Naruto looked crestfallen. It was Kiba who spoke up next, "why's that, sensei?"

"Standard practice in the village is to focus on basic chakra control exercises, taijutsu, weapon forms and teamwork for the first month or so. They used to start on ninjutsu training fairly early and to be fair it turned out some true monsters, but…" Hayate watched to make sure all three of them were paying close attention, "KIAs climbed to more than three times what they are now." He was interrupted by his own coughing, but soon continued. "The problem was individual members would be overconfident in their jutsu skill and get separated from their team. Entire teams would wind up getting picked apart by more experienced shinobi without even a chance to fight back."

Taking a moment to regain his breath he imparted some final words of wisdom, "in the world of shinobi, a senbon in the right place, at the right time, is more powerful than the greatest jutsu." He looked off in the distance for a moment then smiled, "If you really need proof, just look at the Yondaime Hokage. He was known as the yellow flash, and was considered especially deadly mostly because he could actually be everywhere on a battlefield in time to help."

Naruto seemed especially interested in this, "yatta, I want to be like that!"

Hayate chuckled, but it ended in a wet cough. "Anyways, we need to talk about your training schedules. The first hour is going to be individual training, I'll rotate around working with each of you one at a time. This will usually be taijutsu or weapon training. Then we'll spend until noon working on either teamwork or chakra control exercises. Then we'll break for lunch. After that I'll decide whether we spend the rest of the day on sparring or pick up some D-rank missions. Since this is our first day we'll definitely pick up a mission or two so you can get used to them."

All three of them nodded in assent. "Today I want to work with Sakura, you two can find space for yourselves and go through your taijutsu forms." The boys wandered off leaving him alone with the young Kunoichi.

"What are we going to be working on, sensei?" The rosette asked him, obviously overwhelmed with curiosity.

He paused before speaking. It was fairly clear the girl hadn't become a ninja for, well, the right reasons. If she was left to her own devices she'd wind up dead or washed out soon enough. That wasn't acceptable. He needed to give her something to work for, something to focus her latent potential enough to get her through the next year or so.

"Sakura, from what I understand you had quite the grades in the theoretical coursework. I'm going to assign some books to you on strategy, and I'll expect you to spend some time reading them at night… But let me ask, given what you know of your teammates, what role do you see yourself having in the team?"

Sakura thought about it for a long while. "Support?"

"In what capacity, though? How would you support them out in the field?" He asked.

She screwed her face up in thought then answered, "I guess I'd stick to the edge of the fight and throw kunai in to exploit a weakness."

He nodded and coughed, "that's a good answer… but I think I have a better one. How would you like to learn kenjutsu?"

"Kenjutsu!" She asked in surprise. "Don't you need a lot of strength for that?"

"That's one way of approaching it. But in your case you'd still be doing much of what you just said. You'd stick to the edge of the battlefield and then exploit any openings created by your teammates to land a deathblow. Now though, you'll also be able to protect your team's flank by engaging an enemy. Or you can move ahead of your team and pin down an enemy while your teammates attack them from the flanks." He coughed again but smiled, "It gives you some tactical flexibility, and allows you to stay with your team, acting as a front-line strategist. What do you think?"

She looked surprised but thoughtful. "I suppose… it would make a lot of sense when you put it like that. Alright, where do we start?"

He pulled out a storage scroll and retrieved a pair of shinai from it before tossing one to Sakura. "For today we're just going to work on getting down a good stance."

* * *

She watched the small beetles clamber through her hair with intense interest. Shino was slightly less unreadable than usual, having an eyebrow raised in surprise. "Strangely enough… They like your chakra quite a bit. And I don't just mean the taste. They seem to… enjoy being connected to it."

She smiled at him. It was nice to be accepted. That it was a swarm of beetles that accepted her and not people was only a minor detail. Hinata surprised her by reaching out to touch her bug filled hair. Suddenly realizing what she had done the girl retracted her hand.

"Oh… I-I'm sorry. I just wanted t-to know how they'd r-respond to me." Hinata said, looking away.

With a shrug she ran a hand through her hair and let the beetles naturally cling to it as it passed. Finally sure she had enough she started to hold her hand out, then stopped and looked at Shino. They were his bugs after all, maybe he didn't want her to just randomly hand them out. Shino nodded in assent, allaying her fears for the moment. Now completely certain she held her hand out to Hinata.

The young Hyuuga looked at the hand for a second. Slowly brought both hands up to cup Naruko's hand. The bugs slowly decided to wander this pale new terrain. One by one, or sometimes in groups of two or three, the beetles set about exploring every inch of the unfamiliar handscape around them. Hinata looked at them with an honest smile. Her eyes were able to perceive, even without the aid of her Byakugan sight, the multicolored facets of their shells, and the constant machinations of their small legs.

Shino hid his face further behind his jacket's high collar but he couldn't repress a smile of his own. He'd been worried about being on a team with two kunoichi since the other girls of their class had all shown a distinct distaste for bugs. Instead they were a pleasant surprise. Naruko had been completely fascinated with the way the bugs existed symbiotically with him, and Hinata's natural kindness seemed to extend to insect kind as much as it did to people.

Kurenai watched her team with a small smile. They were already on their way to becoming an ideal team. Shino could scout and track with his insects, Naruko could search out an enemy force and engage with shadow clones to force them to reveal their battle capacity, and Hinata could act as rear guard or point defense. While Naruko's muteness might be a drawback, they would also be a strong team for espionage missions as well. Most importantly though, they were fast friends and that would allow them to work as a team almost immediately.

Dropping her camouflage genjutsu she clapped her hands, startling her team. "Alright, it's time we worked out a training schedule."

All three looked up at her in silence waiting for her to continue. "We're going to be focusing in on chakra control techniques for all three of you so they will mostly be done together. Naruko, I need you to focus on this especially. You have such a large reserve of chakra it's going to be a lot of work to tame it to your needs. That doesn't mean I'm expecting less from either of you though. I'm going to prepare both of you for a strong focus in genjutsu. You both already have the ability to shut down a distracted enemy completely allowing for easy capture. That makes genjutsu your strongest compliment since it will give you that distraction. We won't start on actual jutsu for a while though so take your time and try to perfect each control technique as you learn it.

For today we'll only do training, so chakra control in the morning and taijutsu practice in the afternoon. Tomorrow be here at eight o'clock sharp, we'll pick up our missions in the morning and complete them before lunch. After lunch we'll start on training with chakra control exercises in the afternoon until about seven. Every other day we'll take a break from chakra control at four and do three hours of taijutsu practice instead."

All three nodded in assent and then waited patiently for her to explain what exercise they'd be doing for the rest of the morning.

* * *

Shino felt more tired than he'd ever been before in his life as he trudged into the Aburame compound. Kurenai's specialty may not have been taijutsu but she was still a Jounin. Even more she seemed to have a maniacal desire to beat the basics into their very bones. Despite his exhaustion he wasn't heading straight to bed though.

With a brief knock he alerted his father to his presence before entering the man's private study. It was a very… Aburame kind of room. Rather than the standard furniture the entire room was filled with plants that were grown specifically with chakra rather than sunlight. Small seals were attached to the bottom of plant holders and every once in a while he thought he could see a slight yellow glow from one of them.

"Shino." The older man acknowledged his presence and turned to look at him.

Shino held out his hand and waited for his father to repeat the gesture. Carefully he guided the insects that had been in contact with his red haired teammate onto his father's outstretched hand. His father held the insects in front of his face for a moment then nodded.

"I see." His father turned around and grabbed a small scroll from his desk and unfurled it. Another chakra seal was written on it but apparently not yet activated. A small spark of his father's chakra activated the seal and the insects he'd given him immediately congregated on the piece of paper. Shino observed the same ecstatic behavior they'd displayed earlier and began forming hypothesis. "There are secrets surrounding your teammate that I cannot share with you. I expect you, however, to look beneath the underneath."

Shino nodded and turned to leave the room but stopped when his father placed a hand on his shoulder. "Give these to your teammate. I'm sure she'll find a use for them." As soon as he finished speaking a pair of maroon centipedes slid out of his father's sleeve and climbed across his coat until they eventually settled on his wrist like a pair of bracelets.

"I will. Good night," Shino said. Ready to end his day he walked back to his room. All the while though he couldn't stop thinking about the mysteries surrounding his new teammate.

* * *

Kakashi wasn't entirely sure what to do with his team at this point. Right now two of them were trailing behind him, each lost in their own little world. At least he could be sure there would enough food waiting for them when got to his home. Naruto had turned out to be a surprisingly decent cook he just had a habit of cooking too much… then eating it all.

Back to the team though, it was already clear this was going to be tough going. Sasuke and Sai mixed like fire and ice. They were both withdrawn but in Sasuke's case it was because of an overabundance of negative emotion whereas Sai was simply unemotional to begin with. Poor Ryuuga was caught between them and had a natural tendency to play peacemaker that got him further into trouble rather than out of it. Ryuuga at least was a good kid. Decent chakra reserves, no special bloodlines or clan styles, and a fair analytical mind. He'd make a good, if forgettable, chunnin someday.

A dark haired man with a long bandage across his nose sneezed as he passed their group.

He'd just have to wait it out on the teamwork. Sai's apathy and Ryuuga's kindness heavily weighted the team towards the positive end of the spectrum. It was only the sheer crushing weight of Sasuke's negativity that kept them in the dark end. The boy would eventually learn to focus on the mission foremost and that would be that. Still it would have been better if they'd been a more cohesive unit to start with.

"We're here." Kakashi announced before opening the door and allowing Sasuke and Ryuuga inside. "Naruto, we've got guests. Is dinner ready?" There was a moment of silence. Kakashi began to wonder if the boy had already turned in for the night, maybe he should have planned this better…

The blonde shot his head out of the door leading to the kitchen, "ah, Tou-san! We already have a guest, just bring everyone to the table and I'll have the food right out!"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow and led his team into the small office they'd set up to use as a dining room. Iruka looked up from where he'd already knelt at the table, "Kakashi-san, good to see you! I just came over to drop off some paperwork for your team and Naruto-kun invited me to stay for dinner."

"Hmm, he's always glad to cook for someone besides his dear old tou-san. He says my reactions are too bland," Kakashi deadpanned. All three of the guests shared a look that said 'so true'. "Anyways Iruka-san, I'm sure you know these two already."

"Ryuuga-kun, Sasuke-kun, it's good to see you two again," Iruka said.

Ryuuga bowed to him while Sasuke gave his signature "tch".

All four of them took sat down around the table. "So who do you think is going to be this year's top team, Iruka-san?" Kakashi asked.

Iruka looked at him seriously. They knew each other well enough that Kakashi could trust him to answer honestly. "Well… it's hard to tell this early. Each team has a lot of strength but usually one or two critical weaknesses. How well their Jounin-sensei addresses those weaknesses will ultimately decide the strongest team. If I had to pick just one though, right now I'd say Naruto-kun's team. Their only weakness is that Sakura-chan still hasn't come into her own, and I have faith in my student."

Sasuke looked put out, but Kakashi had already given the team his brutally honest assessment so it wasn't a surprise. Ryuuga seemed more thoughtful and slightly depressed. He had been roughly in line with Sakura in the academy rankings and was probably wondering if he were an anchor to his team as well.

At that moment a trio of Narutos entered the room. Two carried food for the table while the third whisked around setting out their place settings. The two who had carried the food bowed to the assembled guests and then dissipated in small clouds of smoke. The real Naruto sat down next to Kakashi with a big grin on his face, "Teriyaki beef with an extra helping of vegetables. Eat up!"

"Hn, I thought you only liked ramen…" Sasuke, surprisingly, spoke up.

"Ramen's the best!" Naruto exclaimed. "But you know we are ninja. It's important to have at least some nutrition too."

Ryuuga nodded his agreement, "personally I really like vegetables." All four of his compatriots looked at him as though he'd mentioned a taste for frogs. He blushed and became very interested in his food.

"You know, going back to our earlier discussion, Kakashi-san, this year does seem to have some worrying team ups," Iruka said. Kakashi nodded his agreement, but Naruto looked confused.

"What do you mean, worrying? They all seem pretty strong to me!" Naruto said.

"That's exactly what's so worrying about it," Kakashi said. "Outside of the Ino-Shika-Cho combination, most teams are specifically designed to be unbalanced towards a certain specialty. While at the gennin level we can then train each team in their particular specialty. After they become chunnin they then wind up on new squads where they perform the task they were trained in. This year… Every team is designed to be a self-sufficient unit on the battlefield. It makes a lot of sense if we're expecting you to see a lot of combat, but this is a peaceful time for Konoha."

Iruka sighed, "When I asked Hokage-sama about it he said he just felt it was time for a couple changes. I wonder what else he decided to shake up." Kakashi shrugged, no more informed of these changes than his counterpart.

Sasuke and Ryuuga were both staring wide-eyed at the empty plate in front of Kakashi. They could have sworn they hadn't taken their eyes off him for more than a second, yet somehow he'd managed to consume his entire meal without either of them seeing his unmasked face. Naruto chuckled at the looks on their faces.

"What are you laughing at, baka." Sasuke said.

"Your face!" Naruto immediately responded as though he'd been saving that line for a perfect moment.

Kakashi rolled his eye, "alright boys, enough making out. Focus on your meal." His curiosity was instantly peaked when both boys went red in the face and Ryuuga turned away to hide the trouble he was having stifling his giggles. Even Iruka seemed like he was holding in a laugh.

One thought pushed his curiosity aside. 'I need to bring them around more often. Naruto's a good influence.'

* * *

"Unit one, checking in. Target located, fifty yards north-east."

"Unit two, copy, closing in from the west."

A flurry of clicks in a shinobi variant of morse code signaled unit three's decision to approach from the east.

"Closing in from the south. We'll go on my signal… now."

As one all three members of team eight broke out of the bushes surrounding the cat. The cat yowled in frustration and ran towards what seemed to be the only opening. A shadow clone with red hair fell from the trees and landed directly in its path on all fours. The two beings were nearly mirror images of each other's stance, wide and wary, as they stared each other down.

A pair of pale hands slid around the cat and pulled it into a comforting grasp. Hinata smiled down at it, "it's okay Tora-san. You don't need to run away anymore." Content that it would be safe for at least a short time it settled willingly into its captors arms.

The three man cell met their instructor at the edge of the forest. "Mission: Find Missing Cat Tora, success." Shino said.

"Good. And do you understand the code yet?" Kurenai asked as they walked unhurriedly towards the Hokage tower.

"Yes, s-sensei. I was able to u-understand every m-message perfectly today." Hinata said. Shino nodded in agreement.

"Alright, we're going to stick to this code while we're using communicators, but I won't stop here. We'll be studying flower codes, color codes and clothing codes next week. A shinobi should be able to communicate with their team in any situation without needing to speak aloud." It was a good plan, she thought, using their teammate's disability as chance to add to her team's strength. So far Hinata and Shino had readily embraced it.

'Thank you, sensei.' The young redhead smiled up at her as she tapped out the message.

It was a shorter trip than the cat would have liked back to the Hokage's tower. Hinata handed the cat to the overweight woman waiting for them, and immediately regretted it. The entire team watched with exasperation as the woman smothered the brown cat despite its loud and constant protests.

"Ah team eight, good job. I must admit you made impressive time with this assignment," the Hokage said. He couldn't help a silent chuckle at the regret in the young gennins' expressions. "I assume, Kurenai-san, that this is your last mission for the day?"

Kurenai bowed to the elderly Hokage, "yes, Hokage-sama."

"Today I will defeat you!" A high pitched voice called from the room's entrance. As one they all turned to see a young boy in a yellow shirt with grey shorts and an overlong scarf rush into the room. Kurenai noticed the kunai in his hand and tensed up ready to act… only to watch him fall face first in the middle of the open floor. Even Tora-chan seemed exasperated with the child's performance.

"Actually, Kurenai-san, that reminds me. I need Ebisu-san for an important mission today. So I was hoping your team could keep Konohamaru company for the evening. I'd like him to see how real shinobi train."

Kurenai looked thoughtful, and then turned to her students. Each gave her a silent assent. "Alright, that doesn't sound too difficult." She said.

"Great. I'll put this down as a D-rank mission to make it official." He said and dismissed them.

Naruko approached the fallen boy and cocked her head in a silent question. The boy just stared at her a moment before jumping up. "Aha, you must have tripped me!" Naruko's gaze darkened as she stared at the boy in annoyance. "Yep. You definitely tripped me." She rapped her knuckles on his head and snorted.

"Ow! Nobody hits me! I'm the honorable grandson!" He puffed himself up and looked at her haughtily. She rapped his head again and gave a throaty chuckle at his look of indignation. "You don't talk much do you?" He asked. She looked at him as though he'd just stated the most obvious thing in the world.

"Come on you two. We really should get going." Kurenai said. They left the tower as a group and unconsciously fell into a diamond pattern around the young boy. Hinata was holding his hand as they walked. "Well what do you guys want for lunch?"

'Yakiniku' was tapped out on their communicators.

"I'm okay with that," Shino said.

"F-fine with me," Hinata agreed.

Konohamaru was looking up at the two of them confused, "okay with what? I didn't hear anything."

"A good team can communicate without words, Konohamaru-chan. This just happens to be a great team," Kurenai said, beaming at her students. She took them to a place she felt familiar with and was glad to see Asuma and his team already there. They sat down in a sort of reverse order, so that Asuma and Kurenai were next to each other with the back of the seat between them. "Asuma, so good to see you."

"You too, Kurenai. So are these the future hell-raisers you were telling me about?" Asuma asked, a friendly grin splitting his shaggy features and a cigarette in his lips.

"Well I wouldn't put it quite like that, but these are my students. Naruko, Hinata and Shino," as she said a name she pointed to each one in turn, "and I'm fairly certain you know Konohamaru."

"Hey squirt, what are you doing with a team of shinobi?" Asuma asked his nephew with a grin.

"Jiji-san wants me to see what shinobi training is like!" Konohamaru said excitedly.

"So Asuma, aren't you going to introduce your squad?" Kurenai asked.

The dark haired man put his hand behind his head and gave a sheepish smile, "oh yeah, that's right. This here is Shikamaru, Chouji, and the blond with the attitude is Ino."

"Hey, I don't have an attitude!" Ino cried.

"I rest my case," Asuma said chuckling to himself.

Ino came around to say hello in person, "Hey Hinata," she smiled to her fellow kunoichi. "How do you like your team?"

"I-it's f-fun. I l-like b-being w-with N-naruko-c-chan and S-shino-s-san." Hinata twirled her index fingers around each other, not liking being the center of attention.

"Oh that's good. Shino." She acknowledged the Aburame but didn't stop to converse with him and instead looked at the red-head who was holding up a piece of raw meat a few inches in front of her eyes. "Naruko-chan, what are you…" She stopped in mid-sentence as a pair of red clumps of hair began to move towards the meat. Her face turned green as they got far enough away from the girl's hair for her to identify them as bright red centipedes. The two insects fought over the meat for a few seconds before finally ripping it in half and retreating to eat their own bits separately.

Shikamaru was openly staring while Chouji even stopped eating. The members of team eight looked at their compatriots in confusion. "I-is s-something w-wrong?" Hinata stuttered out.

"That is SO COOL!" Konohamaru shouted as he stared in awe at the redhead's hair. Asuma couldn't help laughing at his nephew's excitement and his own team's shock.

"Troublesome…" Shikamaru said and put his head back down for a nap. Chouji started eating again without saying a word.

"I'll… take your word for it, kid," Ino said then sat back down with her squad.

* * *

All three members of squad eight sat in a comfortable triangle in the middle of their training ground's main clearing. None of them tried to move as they each held a leaf to their forehead with nothing more than chakra. Hinata actually had five leaves at various points on her face, since her chakra control was already at a higher rank. The Hyuuga fighting style she was trained in, juuken, demanded it.

Konohamaru sat across the clearing attempting the same exercise with far less luck. While it may have been taught in the academy it wasn't really trained to the level these gennin used it. Just getting a leaf to stick for a second or two was considered academy grade. Kurenai's team was going on two solid hours. Of course the fact they were already such experts meant that Kurenai could focus on trying to help the boy for those two hours.

"This is really boring!" Konohamaru pouted. Kurenai sighed and began to form a response but was beat to the punch.

"It may be, but there is really no shortcut to being an elite-ninja. We all want to stand at the head of our peers and be recognized as strong, but in order to do so we have to work very hard every day. There are others... who are always working hard, even harder than this, just to be acknowledged. So we have to work even harder to keep up," Hinata surprised them all as she made it through the whole speech without ever stuttering. Still her voice barely carried across the clearing.

There was a moment of silence in the clearing as nobody really knew what to say after that. Kurenai looked up at the sun and calculated the time of day. "Alright, enough of that exercise, on to other matters. Naruko, where did you learn the taijutsu style you use?" She asked into the silence. All eyes were on Naruko as they all seemed interested in the answer.

Since they'd taken off the communicators before they began, she had to pull out her scroll and pen to write the answer down. Before she could write it down, she had to actually think about the answer for a moment. It didn't have as straight forward of an answer as the usual academy taijutsu. Finally she finished writing her answer and displayed the beautifully written words to her sensei and teammates.

'Hokage-sama taught me the basics as a workout exercise several years ago. Later Ibiki-san taught me several more moves that built on the basic style. After that I incorporated some of the academy style moves into it to cover its weaknesses.' The scroll said.

Kurenai looked thoughtful for a moment then finally spoke again, "well I think you're missing something… Hold on I just figured it out." She drew out a few squares of paper and set one before each of her pupils and even one in front of Konohamaru. "Each of you hold your paper and channel some chakra into it."

Naruko's paper burned almost as soon as she touched it. Shino's paper turned to dirt a moment later, while Hinata's crumpled. Konohamaru's seemed to resist for a moment and then finally split in two. Kurenai took note of the boy's nature and filed it away as something to tell Asuma, the only other wind affinity in the village that she knew of. Her own team had to take priority though.

"I suppose Hokage-sama was planning ahead then. The taijutsu style you learned is very rare, and usually disfavored because of the difficulty of its final step. Behind every move is a more fundamental assumption that the user will follow through with a burst of flame. It also favors fighting low to the ground, where Konoha's forest geography tends to favor attacks from above. I do think it is a good style for you, Naruko-chan, or at least it will become one. Unfortunately nature manipulation is still far too advanced for us to simply attempt right now." Kurenai frowned in concentration, "in the meantime we'll just have to get you as much practical experience as possible."

Looking to her other two students she said, "I'll take some time before we part tonight to talk to each of you individually about your elemental affinities. Again we won't be training in this any time soon, but it's always good to know beforehand. Alright, Shino and Naruko I want you two to find some space and spar for a while. Hinata you'll be working with me directly. You are likely going to wind up the team's forward. With Naruko and Shino's ranged abilities it's going to fall on you to pin down an enemy while your teammates get in position."

* * *

There were in general only two kinds of hidden village heads in Hiruzen Sarutobi's experience. Those who were weak enough that they could survive by not being a threat to the big five, and those so strong that even the five kage were forced to acknowledge their strength. Hanzo of Amegakure had been the latter, single handedly fighting off all three sannin without major injury. The woman in front of him was another of that category.

The tall, muscular woman standing in his office wore a short black kimono open and untied. It revealed the tan mesh shirt underneath which continued down until it was hidden by her black hakama. The kanji for family was tattooed into the left side of her neck and her forehead protector proudly displayed the symbol of the village hidden in the stones, Ishigakure no sato. Her hair was brick red and hung wildly down her back, emphasizing her strong and intensely animalistic features.

They'd actually fought once before, though the scars he'd left on her legs were hidden from sight at the moment. It had been just before selecting Minato as his successor. In fact it was the way she'd wounded him in that battle that had finally convinced him to make choosing a successor a priority.

"I must say, Ishitani-san, this is hardly what I would have expected. While our villages have never been outright enemies in the past, we are far from friends. Even more so our relationship with Iwa is rather antagonistic. If you're doing what I think you're doing it may open old wounds between our villages," Sarutobi said.

"Perhaps, but Iwa is not in as strong of a position as it once was. Kumo has moved away from them after blaming them for the fiasco that ended the third world war. Ame is more impassable than ever. Suna and Kusa are openly allied with Konoha. In truth this is as much an overture of our friendship with Suna as it is a proposition for Konoha," she said. Despite her even tone, her eyes gleamed with predatory intent. "Iwa has dug its own graves. If they don't realize that soon then diplomacy will no longer be an option."

"I'm well aware of the war brewing between you and Iwa," Sarutobi gave her a hard look, "but Konoha shall not become a part of it. I've already been through two wars in my lifetime, I'll not cause a third."

The woman looked to the side for a moment before selecting a different tact, "before the Third Shinobi World War, Ishi did have one significant ally. One I believe Konoha should still know well, after all you have all your ninja wear their symbol."

They each looked at each other, waiting for a weakness in the other's mask. Sarutobi's mind was working overtime trying to find a way out of this word trap. If Ishitani knew what she was suggesting she knew then he couldn't afford to turn her down at this juncture. He also couldn't risk asking her to clarify her meaning, some things shouldn't be said aloud and if she didn't know then it could tip off that there was something to be known. Instead he watched her impassively as the silence drew on.

"I see," he finally broke the silence. "Then perhaps in honor of mutual friends now passed I can acquiesce on this occasion. But I can only draft up the papers for one team, choose wisely."

She gave him a predatory smile, "of course. It is already prepared, Hokage-sama."

* * *

Sarutobi was lost in thought when Hayate's team wandered in after completing another set of D-ranked missions. Normally he would have gladly given them his full attention, after all their team had been chewing through short term D-rank assignments with unparalleled speed. Instead it took Naruto's familiar voice to break him out of his reverie.

"Ojiji-san, this is boring! We need some real excitement!" Naruto said, hunched over in boredom.

"Naruto! You've barely made it out of the academy. Don't you know how the mission rank system works!" Iruka said from his position as temporary assistant. "People come in all the time looking for the village's help and those requests are processed into missions. Missions are then ranked D through S based on difficulty and level of experience required-"

"Iruka-san, not that we aren't all fascinated by your lecture but I have something important to ask." Sarutobi said, not unkindly. Iruka silenced himself and looked at the aging Hokage in surprise. "Hayate-kun, do you think your team is ready for a C-ranked mission?" He needed to get the boy out of the village for a while, and he knew just the mission for the team in front of him.

Hayate looked at the Hokage in surprise but composed himself instantly at the question, "yes, Hokage-sama. My team is more than ready for a C-ranked mission. In fact I was going to ask you for one in a few days."

"Good, Iruka care to hand me that scroll from earlier. Yes that's the one," he opened the scroll one last time to double check the details before tossing it to Hayate-san. "If you wouldn't mind showing in our guest from the Land of Waves…" He said to nobody in particular, but one of the Chunnin at the door got the hint and left. A moment later he returned with a large older man, obviously the product of a life of hard labor.

"So these are the ninja that are going to escort me back to my country? Don't look like much, especially the blond chibi," the man said with drunken bravado.

Naruto growled at him but made no overt action instead turning to his sensei, "ne, Hayate-sensei, does it count as a failed mission if I only cut off his balls?"

"Yes, Naruto," Hayate said without looking up from the scroll. He coughed then looked at Tazuna, "my team may be young and inexperienced, Tazuna-san, but they are the best of their peers. Also I will be with them," he stopped to cough, "should anything happen along the way."

"That's… comforting," Tazuna said, looking slightly worried.

"'Ttebayo," Naruto said in quiet agreement.

Hayate tried to clear his throat, but instead wound up in the midst of another coughing fit. "Team seven, our mission is to protect the bridge builder, Tazuna, as he returns to Wave Country and completes his bridge. We will meet at the front gate tomorrow at seven. Prepare for at least two weeks in the field, but expect resupply of basic provisions at the destination." He coughed again, "dismissed."

Sarutobi watched them leave the room and sighed. Hopefully this would give him time to find the leak, before anything more could get out.

"Jiji-san!" The only other person to call him that familiarly ran into the room. Kurenai and her squad followed close behind the young boy.

"Konohamaru-kun, did you learn anything from watching your elders practice?" The Hokage said with a heartfelt smile on his face.

"Yeah, Jiji-san! I learned that it's a lot of hard work and not always very exciting, but there is no shortcut to being an elite ninja!" He said. Hinata blushed hearing her own words repeated to the Hokage himself.

"Excellent, I hope you remember this lesson well. Such wisdom has the chance to give you great strength so long as you keep it close to your heart." The Hokage said, looking particularly grandfatherly. "Kurenai-san, team eight, thank you and congratulations on another successful mission."

"Hokage-sama…" Kurenai began but trailed off in thought before speaking again, "I was hoping to pick up a C-rank mission for my team. I believe they are up to the task, and would benefit from a change in scenery."

Sarutobi gave her a thoughtful look and felt all eyes in the room silently turn to him. Several of those stares were certainly disapproving. He wondered if he would be drowning in the objections of his advisors were they not afraid of breaking the taboo before the girl's teammates. One gaze did stand out from the rest though, Iruka was looking at him with a glimmer of pride and hope.

"I don't see why not. You've certainly done quality work with your missions if not quite matching others in your quantity." He nodded to himself. Thinking back on the requests they'd recently had he selected a scroll from the stack that had stood out to him. To be honest he had wanted to give it to a Jounin in any case, there was something… off about the request. It was only the short timeframe that had prevented him from giving it to Hayate in the first place. Taking a moment to make a note of his own, he then tossed the mission scroll to Kurenai. "Please send in the client."

Kurenai read the scroll as they waited for their charge. A young blond girl wandered into the room behind the Chunin that had guided her. "Are you the ninja that are going to be guarding me?" The girl asked in honest curiosity.

"Yes," Shino replied with a curt nod for emphasis.

"Great! I'm Tsukino Kagaragi. At least with four of you I won't get lonely." She beamed at them.

"I see our mission is to escort you back to your hometown near the Kusa border and protect you as well as the deed to your family's estates. If I might ask, what makes you feel you need the protection of a team of shinobi?" Kurenai spoke, appraising the girl.

The girl's countenance darkened for a moment before she spoke, "my father… passed away from an illness recently. I can't legally inherit from our family unless I can safely bring the deed to the final reading of my father's will next week. My cousins may also try to take the will before I can reach home, they've been after my father's lands for years and they have some retainers of their own. I don't honestly expect them to act though, they're not exactly the ballsy type, but you can't be too careful." She brightened up as she looked at them, "my father always said if it's all or nothing then spare no expense!"

Kurenai smiled at her and did some mental calculations, "well then, I propose we leave at noon tomorrow. That way we should arrive at your estate in the early morning three days from now."

* * *

The Tsuchikage looked over the report on his desk. With a snap of his fingers it was disintegrated in a small dust technique. His only regret was that it wasn't the only report of its kind. The civilians wouldn't like having espionage missions within their own border, but like hell he was allowing the information to leave his office. The message that came with it was the perfect reason why.

It was so disappointing getting old. Not only was his back giving him problems, but now he had at least enough wisdom to understand how stupid and rash those around him were. "These idiots don't even understand why hunter-nin are so important, Kitsuchi."

"I'm not sure what you're referring to." The serious man replied.

"They just recommended we handle the 'steel body' issue by completely destroying Ishigakure," Onoki, the Sandaime Tsuchikage, said.

"Hmm… and you're not confident we could wipe out the entire bloodline in the first attack?" Kitsuchi asked.

"Of course not. Someone always survives. No matter how many you kill, a bloodline is never just wiped out in one attack," Onoki said.

"I see. What does that have to do with hunter-nin?" The man asked.

"Shinobi acquire great power, but we are kept in line by the mission system. Unless it comes to an issue between fellow shinobi, we only fight for the sake of missions. We are tools in the hands of others. When a shinobi becomes a missing-nin they retain that power but are barred from the mission system. It's thought of as a form of punishment, but really it means they're beyond control. The shinobi in question is no longer a tool in the hand of others and now the hand guiding its own tool. Hunter-nin correct this imbalance by chasing down and destroying them before the power can go out of control." He looked at a small book lying nearby. "All of the 'steel body' users are A or S ranked within the bingo book, can you imagine the havoc they'd cause with neither a village nor it's hunter-nin to control them?"

"I see what you mean, Tsuchikage-sama. But the fact remains we must do something. There is word of a possible alliance between Isha and Konoha in the works," the man said with a long frown.

"Yes, and we will. We just won't do the damn stupid thing that will create more headaches than it solves."

* * *

**A/N:**

So yeah I guess I rag on Sakura a bit here, not really trying to say she's a bad character though. Kishimoto had her in the main trio and had a lot time to turn her around from the team's anchor to the point where she could fight seriously against Sasori. I just don't have that kind of time for her character. I really want her to have a serious place in the Konoha 11 before she actually winds up as Tsunade's apprentice.

Sorry that this one is all exposition and dialogue with no action, but I needed to set up the personalities going into the C-rank mission arc.

Oh and some final thoughts on pairings… No NaruSasu at all. Neither Naru. I have big plans for Naruto, mwahaha… well you'll see in time. As for Naruko… I'm just not sure to be honest. Maybe I can go super crazy and do Naru/Kurotsuchi just to really sow some chaos. Anyways, fair warning I guess, if I like a pairing I'm not one to give a damn about the gender of the participants.


End file.
